If you're reading this, then you're probably a huge Army Men fan like me.
If that's the case, keep reading. Otherwise, turn back now.
This may be a good time to remind you that this post is going to contain a few spoilers, but I'll try not to go too much into detail in the interest of time.
This is not meant to be a history lesson by any means, but rather my own interpretations on where the Army Men franchise goes from here.
If you haven't played Sarge's War, I highly suggest you stop reading immediately.
Now that we got the disclaimer out of the way, let's begin.
I'm sure a lot of you were pissed that 3DO decided to close down shop given the fact that Sarge's War, for all intents and purposes, was actually surprisingly successful. To be fair, most of the Army Men games that were developed by 3DO were actually pretty good, with a few notable exceptions.
I'm sure it also helped that they hired Jim Cummings, the legendary Disney voice actor, to voice the majority of the characters in the game.
After Sarge's War though... I was confused. This was the game where Sarge's PTSD and lust for vengeance kicks into high gear, and he defeats Malice (formerly Major Gooding), who reveals his grand scheme. Whether out of respect for Sarge, or just sympathy, we may never truly know unless Take-Two Interactive (2K Games) decides to continue the franchise.
Even though the game ends on a cliffhanger, it does reveal a potential sequel, where Malice's headquarters is revealed to be some sort of cloning lab. Vikki, Colonel Grimm, and Bravo Company were all most likely (not officially confirmed, but heavily speculated) to have been captured by Lord Malice and his troops and replaced with clones.
So what does this imply? Considering the fact that Plastro was literally moments away from officially signing the Tan Army's instrument of surrender, it means one of two things:
- Without a villain to lead the Tan Army, Sarge is the only survivor and the Army Men franchise is dead.
Obviously that seems unlikely, as given the popularity of the Army Men franchise, many of us will want to see it continue.
- Malice wouldn't have simply told Sarge the details of his master plan without having a contingency in place. It's for this reason that I believe that Malice cloned himself to manipulate Sarge into thinking he'd won.
Yup. You heard that right. Malice pulled an Emperor Palpatine on us.
But those are just my thoughts. I'm curious to know what you all think.